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I’ve read and written about a some pretty unusual hotels, in the past, but this is the first chicken hotel I’ve ever heard of.
The Chicken Hotel created by 31-year-old David Roberts, from Boskenwyn, Helston, is almost just like any other hotel out there, with one big difference – instead of people, it offers accommodations for chicken. I know it sounds like a joke, but this place is for real, and apparently it’s also very successful.
“With more people looking to escape the rat race and move out in the country with a little bit of land, keeping chickens is becoming more and more popular. But what do you do if you go away on holiday? Who looks after the chicken?” asks Mr. Roberts, who opened his unusual establishment to encourage people to raise their own chicken. A former cabinet-maker, David Roberts built the chicken coops himself and now rents them for 2 pounds each, plus 75 pence per chicken.
Each coop in the Chicken Hotel holds up to eight chicken and the current offer includes buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner of local produce, served in open-air. Guests are allowed to roam around the hotel grounds all day, before being gathered to roost at night. According to Mr. Roberts, the hotel was fully booked over Christmas time, and he hopes half term and Easter will be just as successful.
Source :- Believe Or Not
The unusual event took place last Saturday, when Sergei Kaunov and his fiancee Irina Kuzmenko got married in the ice-cold waters of the Enisei River, in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, at a temperature of -30 degrees Celsius.
Sergei, also known as “The Walrus”, is a member of the local ice-swimming club, always dreamed of getting married in such extreme conditions, but his fiancee was never a big fan of winter and low temperatures. Still, her love for The Walrus was so great that she agreed to go through this heart-stopping challenge. So after taking a nice bath to warm up, Irina followed her beloved into the frozen waters, where their friends were already waiting. They formed a half circle around the happy couple, and since no priest was brave enough to marry them at -30 degrees, Sergei simply put a ring on Irina’s finger, while the crowd cheered.
Luckily, friends and family of the happy couple who were to cold to stand by them during the offbeat ceremony, got to join the festivities in a nice warm wooden cabin, where they danced the night away.
I tell ya’, nothing says “I love you” like getting married at -30 degrees, because that’s what your fiancee wanted. I wish my wife had been so understanding and agreed to have the wedding at a strip club…
One of the most popular tourist attractions in the Swedish city of Malmö, the giant lamp of Lilla Torg square seems like something taken out of Alice in Wonderland.
First installed in 2006, the 5.8 meters high lamp quickly became a favorite spot for both locals and tourists. Featuring a foot that also acts as a bench, this installation was created with the idea of giving passers-by a chance to sit down, relax and forget about daily stress, if only just for a few minutes. Throughout the year, the enormous lamp tours the various squares of Malmö, but on December 15, just before Christmas, it always returns to Lilla Torg.
It looks cool enough as it is, but it would be even better if someone would build a giant nightstand, and maybe a glass of water, to go with the lamp. And if it wasn’t bizarre enough, the giant lamp of Lilla Torg actually talks, as well. Check it out in the video at the bottom.
A University of Alberta student didn't wash a pair of skinny jeans for 15 months and science says the fashion trend is safe, but maybe a tad smelly.
Josh Le wore the same pair of jeans to break in the raw denim, so it would wrap the contours of his body, leaving distinct wear lines.
He had his textile professor test the jeans for bacteria before washing them for the first time.
The results showed high counts of five different kinds of bacteria, but nothing in the range of being considered a health hazard.
Raw denim is not washed or treated when it is manufactured.
A current trend is to wear the dark indigo jeans without washing them to allow the indigo to wear out in the fabric.
After the jeans are washed, they leave a unique pattern based on their owner's body.
Le said some friends were "grossed out" by his experiment, but others thought it was interesting.
"Some people really liked it, but some people were completely grossed out by it," he told The Canadian Press. "I was able to meet a lot more people and have a lot of good conversations. It was like, 'hey, nice jeans."'
When his jeans got a bit funky smelling, Le's solution was to put them in the freezer.
"There were times when it had a bad odour, like in the seventh month," he said. "That's when I threw it in the freezer and magically when it came out it was odourless."
A student gauges bacteria in blue jeans after 15 months of unwashed wear
The scaled-down landmarks would feature on the deck of the 500ft long ‘The Streets of Monaco’ yacht which would cater for 16 guests and 70 crew.
There's also swimming pools, tennis courts and other Monaco favourites like a Hotel de Paris, Cafe de Paris, La Rascasse and Loews Hotel.
If there are any multi-billionaire Spluch readers out there (you know our normal demographic) it's worth noting the yacht will cost around £700 million to buy.
A spokesperson for designers Yacht Island Design said: "The Streets of Monaco is the focal point of our story and the anchor for the themes that run throughout the yacht, revolving around a recreation of the famous Monaco Grand Prix race circuit.
"This fully functional kart circuit sets the stage for other famous locations seen on a lap of the principality."
USS Kittiwake, a decommissioned US navy submarine rescue ship, has been intentionally sunk to create a scuba diving attraction.
Now lying on the ocean floor off the Cayman Islands, the 251-foot long, five-deck military ship, will become an artificial reef for divers to enjoy.
Officials say after acquiring the ship they cleaned it before flooding the rusty hull so it would sink upright and then punching holes into the hull and pumped in sea water.
This caused the Kittiwake to sink dramatically in a cascade of bubbles, but don't take our word for it, check out the amazing pictures below.
The ship is now sitting under 60ft of water just off the coast of Grand Cayman Island and is quickly becoming home to curious creatures including stingrays, barracuda and various schools of smaller fish.
It is hoped Kittiwake Cayman will soon become a destination for divers who will be able to snorkel overhead and see the main decks and topography of the ship or explore rooms of the wreck.
A spokesperson for Cayman Islands Tourism Association said: "The Kittiwake is quite at home at her new home with the fishes.
"Day by day she will transform in to a living coral reef and habitat for hundreds if not thousands of reef fish."
Speaking of the project, Premier McKeeva Bush, of the Cayman Islands, added: "The sinking of the ex-U.S.S. Kittiwake represents the single most significant occurrence in a decade for Cayman's dive industry.
"Since the last year, the Ministry and Department of Tourism have been working hand in hand through many processes to ensure the cleaning and safe movement of the vessel to the Cayman Islands."
Making a splash: Photographer creates astonishing technicolour patterns using water droplets and ink - These ingenious photographs show amazing multicoloured droplets of ink at the precise moment they impact with the surface of water.
The stunning pictures show drops of red, green and yellow ink bouncing off the water to create mesmerising mid-air shapes not visible to the naked eye.
Each image captures in startlingly sharp detail the droplets frozen in time and cascading as bright colours in all directions.
In one, the ink droplets combine to look like a transparent rainbow mushroom cloud.
And in another, a red stemmed droplet bursts into purple-green life as it splashed blue ink in a circular pattern to create an astounding crest.
The pictures were taken by full-time software engineer Tobias Brauening, 27, from Reutingen, Germany.
He said: 'The most fascinating aspect for me is that a water drop is such a simple thing which happens every day in nature.
'It's wonderful what nature can create, and I like to make this visible to others.
'They wonder how it is possible for the colours to get in there and how I can trigger the camera in the right moment.'
The secret to Mr Brauening's success lies in his interest in technology, computers and photography.
He decided to study the little known subject of mechatronics, which combines all three subjects together to produce the outstanding and challenging images.
'Because I learned something about electronics and microcontrollers while studying, I bought a microcontroller board, built some electronics and started with great success.
'I used three new special valves, experimented with making them drop to the same point and my new images were born.'
First he fills a plastic tank with shallow water. He then adds a different colour to each of the three valves and uses three flashes with contrasting colour filters for the background.
Mr Brauening then sets up his microcontroller and camera, adjusts his three valves and pushes the trigger.
This activates both the valves and the camera shutter, which are synchronised to capture the vital moment.
'But even with all the technical help, sometimes it takes hours until I get the shape and colours that I wish for,' he added.
'A collision of three drops needs accurate timing in a range of a few milliseconds.
'The other issue is the lighting, which needs some practice around the reflections on the water, background, colour filters and the position of the flashes.'
Spanish and Portuguese shoppers arrive at Desigual outlets in their underwear... to be clothed for free It’s not the sort of winter sale you would expect to happen in England.
But for theses Spanish and Portuguese shoppers the chilly weather was not so much of a factor.
They braved the mild New Year temperatures to cash in as clothing company Desigual promised: ‘Come in undressed and go out dressed.'
he wacky idea from the company, who was started by a Swiss in 1984 but has its headquarters in Barcelona, seems to have been a hit for those in the mood for a cheeky deal.
But there was a hitch: only the first 100 punters who arrived at selected branches were given the free stash.
At the Madrid store alone some 200 people queued outside ready to strip down to their underwear to take advantage of the shop's winter sale offer.
With the Spanish capital starting the winter sales five days before the traditional January 7 date, shoppers had to show their flesh in exchange for two free items of clothing - a top and bottom piece.
Pedro Soares and Ivan Silva claimed that they were the first to arrive at the Lisbon store at 1am in the early hours of Sunday morning, waiting eight hours until the doors opened and they were entitled to take home an outfit of their choice, gratis.
‘I have a woolly jumper and a pair of trousers, which would have cost €250 (£210),’ 20-year-old Mr Soares told Lusa News Agency.
‘I really like this brand and like this I can take the clothes without paying for them.’
Mr Silva said: ‘It was fun. We were the first to arrive and more people came during the night. When they opened the doors there was such a rush with people falling over each other to get the best clothes.’
Friends Jenny and Lisa from New Zealand had been waiting since before midnight outside the Madrid store and said it was a great opportunity to meet new amigos.
‘We have been here since 11pm with my friends,’ Jenny said. ‘New friends that we made here!’
Erica, from Brazil, earned her number one spot by waiting from 3pm the previous day and was happy with her choice, although she intended to buy more, in addition to the two free items.
‘I am number one and I have gotten a coat and trousers, but I am still picking things, there is a lot left to get though,’ she said.
Desigual were delighted with the interest the stunt gained for the brand – and rather than leaving those who did not make the top 100 shivering in next to nothing, they provided them with half-price discounts.
Public Relations officer Beatriz Almeida said that the initiative was aimed at marking the official start of the sales.
‘It went well,’ she said. ‘The brand aims to be original so we wanted this action to be different.’
Though the company has a store on Regent Street, according to the website there are no plans to offer a similar deal for London-based shoppers.
Copyright 2010